'Kill-switch' the key to reducing phone theft

Google and Microsoft are to add a ‘kill-switch’ feature to their Android and Windows phone operating systems.

The ‘kill switch’ renders a phone useless if stolen.

Authorities have been urging tech companies to help reduce the number of phone thefts and the ‘kill-switch’ appears to be a solution to the problem.

Apple and Samsung offer a similar feature on their devices.

Some 3.1 million mobile devices were stolen in the US in 2013, nearly double the number of handsets stolen in 2012.

According to a report by the New York State Attorney General, in the first five months of 2014 the theft of Apple phones fell by 17 percent in New York City.